Salman case hearing to resume this week in Bombay HC

The hearing of actor Salman Khan's petition challenging his May 6, 2015, conviction will resume in the Bombay High Court this week.

The plea, challenging the conviction on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and resulting the five-year jail term, is being heard before Justice A R Joshi.

On August 8, at the request of Khan’s lawyer Amit Desai, Justice Joshi had adjourned the hearing till August 25, from when the day-to-day hearing would resume.

After his opening arguments, Desai had maintained that Khan was not behind the wheel when the incident took place. He had also questioned the statements of some prosecution witnesses.

He had also asked why the prosecution and the police had relied on the statement of police constable Ravindra Patil, the bodyguard assigned to Khan from the Protection Branch of Mumbai Police, only, and chose not to ensure deposition of actor-singer Kamaal Khan, who too was in the car. Patil passed away during the course of the trial.

Justice Joshi, during the last hearing, had asked the defence and also the government side to prepare a list of witnesses in tabular form and what they have said at what time — before the Bandra police station, during the course of trial before the Bandra Magistrate’s Court and during the re-trial in the Mumbai Sessions Court. These details are also expected to be tabled this week.